Sunday, February 27, 2011

Mon - 24 miles (2,700') easy. 3:09. This was a repeat of a run I did with Burch a few weeks back. From my house, the route goes roads to the Devils Backbone trailhead in Loveland (12 miles) via Masonville/Hwy 34 and then straight back north on the Bluesky trail: high route to the keyhole, then lefts through the Loveland-side loops, Indian Summer and then the long way home once back in my neighborhood. Nearly all the climbing on this route comes in the return 12 miles. Hit the trailhead in 1:20 flat (6:40s) at what felt like a reasonably relaxed pace, then switched to jog mode, coming back in 1:49.

Building on Sunday's 19 mile run, a still sore foot/ankle, and presumably some residual fatigue from New Orleans, my legs felt pretty beat towards the end. I took that as an opportunity to put in a late-race effort by upping the tempo through the last two miles of trail before the climb back up to my house. Redstone: 15:45; Hwy34: 62; Backbone: 1:20; 38e: 2:52.

Tues - AM: 8 miles intervals. Met up with Jane's early AM group to get a bit of turnover back into the routine. Wasn't expecting great things given 19 & 24 mile runs the previous two days, but did manage to elevate the heart rate which I guess was the only real goal. Workout went: fartlek mile, fartlek cross country hill mile, mile steady road, 1,200, 1,000. Ran with Chris M for these, which meant I was working a little harder than originally planned. 3 mile warm up with Scott, Sarah and Celeste, then:

PM: 9 miles (2,300') easy. Haven't run this one since before Western States last year when it was pretty much my daily lunchtime route. Figured I'd launch back into the short-mileage vertracker and see how things felt. Physically I was pretty tired, but really this was a mental exercise to see if I've got the desire to go out and do what I did last year in getting ready for States. Jury still out on that one. Anyway: Soderberg to bench - Horsetooth down to Falls, then Spring Creek - Soderberg - Rock trail - Audra Culver - back up to Horsetooth via Southridge - Rock to Soderberg - long way home (aka: Horsetooth/Audra long).

PM: 4.5 miles in Louisville on Coal Creek Trail with PI teamatesJosh and Tim.

Fri - AM: 5.5 miles (800') easy. In Boulder with PI product line managers, photographer, and others for a slippery run on the lower Boulder mountain trails from N-CAR.PM: 6.5 miles easy on Coal Creek Trail with Ian, Scott, Josh and Tim.

Sat - AM: 11 miles easy. With PI team for run and photo shoot at Boulder Reservoir.

The WS build is officially on. Front loaded the week in anticipation of a lower mileage weekend with meetings, eating and boozing at the Pearl Izumi team summit. Managed to squeeze in a few more runs than anticipated Friday and Saturday, but really nothing but mileage padding. Anyway, happy to come in at over 100 miles on the week, although was hoping for a little more vertical.

So the summit was a huge success and as usual the folks at Pearl were fantastic hosts. A lot of great things in the works with regards to product and racing. First and foremost, the Peak II is now in full production and will be available from retailers in the very near future. I've run in most all of the prototypes leading up to this release and I have to tip my hat to Mike Thompson, the PI run shoe dude, for really listening to the feedback from the ultrarunning team in developing and modifying this shoe. While it is called the Peak II, it is essentially a complete overhaul of the original Peak with the only real similarity being the focus on keeping the shoe light. Unlike some of the other lightweight trail runners currently on the market, the Peak is built to last. I put over 600 miles on one of the protos and can honestly say that if I hadn't given the shoes back to Mike for inspection, I would have put them through many more miles before donating. But durability is just one part of the picture. The shoe rocks on many fronts, but more on that when they're on the market.

Tim Olson rocking the Peak II. Photo, Eric Wynn.

An earlier iteration. The upper material has changed, but styling is essentially the same.

In addition to Pearl Izumi fun and games, we had a great presentation from Robert Kunz, researcher/developer-in-chief at First Endurance, whose products I am again excited to be using in 2011.

Highgear also sent Dale Fleckenstein down to present on the excellent range of products those guys have in the offing. Like Pearl, Highgear has listened, and I am super excited for the launch of the new Axio HR, which will combine the features of two existing watches (Axio Max and Alterra) to produce a really great mountain running watch that will also include a heart rate monitor and associated data. The launch on that is this summer, but perhaps more exciting (for GPS junkies) is the 2012 scheduled launch date for the Highgear GPS watch, which will combine the mileage tracking capabilities of GPS with all the great vert tracking capabilities of the Highgear altimeter technology. Exciting stuff.

Axio Max Steel - the heavier 'street' version.

Eric Wynn was there all weekend snapping some great pics, which I am looking forward to seeing more of as they become available. The guy is quite the talent.

And finally, check out these short video interviews with teammates Scott and Darcy on running extreme distances while maintaining balance as parents, spouses and career professionals. Both these guys are class acts and great ambassadors for the sport.

Thurs - Noon: 8.5 miles (2,000') easy. Falls - Spring Creek - Stout - Loggers - Carey - Towers - Herrington - Spring creek - Soderberg. Nice out again, although still a few stretches of ice. Opened it up in places, but largely mellow. Calves still a little sore, especially on the downs.PM: 7.5 miles easy with the trail running group. Turned my ankle quite painfully in the dark on the moderately technical singletrack on the west side of Pineridge. I really should invest in some new headlight batteries.

Friday - AM: 6 miles (700') easy. Milner Mtn w/long way home. Foot was pretty painful from yesterday. Almost bailed on the run - hope this is nothing too serious.PM: 2 miles. From Discount Tire on Mason Trail. Turned around after a mile as my foot was hurting way too much. Praying this is not a stress fracture.

Saturday - AM: 10 miles (1,400') easy. To 5 mile on HTH course with Fort Collins Running Club. Probably would have bagged this run had I not been leading it. As it was, I cut a planned 10-15 at AR50 pace from the start of the run. Foot felt better than yesterday which is an excellent sign, but definitely not out of the woods yet.PM: 2.5 miles (800') with Alistair to Gem Lake in Estes. Foot hurting again.

Sun - 19 miles (4,000') easy. 38e/Shoreline to Sodeberg, then Valley - Arthurs - Overlook - Well Gulch - Timber - Arthurs tag - Arthurs down - Mill Creek - Loggers - Stout - Spring Creek - Falls - home the long way. Foot was still painful at times during this run, but was sufficiently less painful that I'm pretty sure it is no more than a strained tendon (knock on wood). Should be pain free in a couple of days. Anyway, trails were a mix of dry dirt, mud, ice, snow and crunchy frost. Tough conditions with some serious luge runs in a couple of the gulleys and on Mill Creek, but great to be out working some hills on a longer run again.

Total: 77 miles (14,200')

New Orleans was a focus race and I feel like I came up a bit short, which is always disappointing, but as I've already said, it was still a significant PR so I'm happy enough with the result. Was talking to John Lonsdale, owner of Foot of the Rockies, earlier in the week and told him that at least now I feel like I have the ability to run a 2:29 if I can ever find the motivation to prepare for a road marathon again. Toying with the idea of taking another stab late season, but seems a tad unlikely given the mammoth summer I have on tap.

I had planned on getting right back into the training this week after a couple easy days Monday and Tuesday, but my weekend plans were scuppered by a turned ankle from Thursday night. Thankfully, what I had originally feared was a stress fracture appears to be no more than a strain, so I've pretty much given myself the green light. Up early tomorrow morning to take advantage of the Presidents Day holiday with a 30+ mile run, which will build on 19 from today. Going to call that the official kick off for Western States, Hardrock, UTMB training.

Good to see Fort Collins put up four of the top 10 in the men's race in Moab yesterday (Dakota (1), Ryan (3), Sam M (7), Pete S (8)), with Scott S bringing home the master's win too.

Monday, February 14, 2011

This was my sixth go at building for a marathon, so I've become pretty familiar with the event and the required training, but there are always new things to learn. Probably my biggest takeaway from this go around is that it takes a steadfast commitment to running fast in training, a somewhat unpleasant proposition for the mountain jogger in me, and one that I think I was a little too half-hearted about. While I still feel like I had a decent build up, especially on the mileage front, if I were to do it again, I would definitely include a greater number of sustained efforts at marathon pace and fewer mile repeat type workouts.

But this is not always easy. From my house, I have limited access to flat, paved terrain, which makes it easy to ditch certain workouts in favor of mountain jogging sessions. That is just the reality of where I live - great training grounds for mountain courses, but terrible for road races. Anyway, on balance, I think I did about as much as was realistically possible, so really shouldn't complain about what ended up being a slightly disappointing run. After all, a 7 minute PR is a very positive sign. On to the report.

Firstly, I wish I could have spent a little more time in New Orleans, but with work and family obligations being what they are, this was very much a whistle-stop tour. I got in late Friday and then spent the balance of Saturday hanging out in the French Quarter with Top American and Nela. The French Quarter would have been a lot of fun had there been a quarter the number of people milling around, and if I wasn't running a marathon the next day. As it was, we walked around a bit taking in the scene and the architecture before sitting down to a disappointing jumbalaya etouffe at what looked like a nice restaurant (I'm disappointed 7 times out of 10 when I eat out, so tend to avoid it if possible). Justin and Nela opted for a bus tour in the afternoon, so I headed to a quieter part of town for coffee, sun and a little soak of New Orleans life.

After a pasta dinner out by the airport where I was staying, it was to bed for the 4:45 alarm call to meet Justin for the 5:30 ride into town. Sitting in the car, I was feeling pretty blasé about the work ahead and generally just a little disinterested. Justin and I weaseled our way into the elite/VIP area at the start after heckling Jurek who was in the pen taking pictures with fans. The heaters were a real treat as it was just a touch nippy in the pre-dawn of morning. Kim Smith was there looking skinny and sharp as were a bunch of Hansen Brooks runners. Not only would Kim go on to beat Justin by four minutes in the half, she would also set a U.S.-soil half marathon record (1:07:36). Impressive.

Shortly before the gun Brian Peterson, a fellow trail runner, introduced himself saying that he was looking to go 2:29. Having still not made up my mind on pacing, I figured I’d use Brian as a gauge as he was planning on pacing off his Garmin. If I could hang, I would at least have someone to work with after the five-mile marathon/half marathon split, beyond which I was fully expecting to run solo.

Easing into the run, things felt remarkably smooth, as they should on tapered legs in the early stages of a marathon, so it was all small talk, fun and games. This is always the pleasurable part of the marathon – people are chatty, the work feels easy and your goal is yet to be shattered by the inevitable effects of lactic-acid build up and glycogen depletion. The first mile was perhaps the easiest 5:49 I have ever run, and it pretty much felt like we were jogging. Through these early miles I was in a good pack, hanging two or three deep just drafting and chatting. Up to the half marathon turn off, the miles went: 5:46, 5:47, 5:46, 5:44. The numbers suggested the pace was maybe just a touch hot, but aside from a nagging right glute and right Achilles (which are nearly always nagging) the effort felt just about right.

All the while, I had been keeping an eye on Brian, who had maybe ten meters on me by mile five, as he was the only one I knew was in the marathon, and I also knew from his continued Garmin vigilance that he was still right there as the 2:29 marker. When the half/full split came, everyone in my immediate vicinity, with the exception of Brian made the turn, leaving me stranded in an island of solitude. Mile 6 hit at 6:14, so evidently I had fallen off the pace without anyone to work with, but I am also assuming that the marker was a touch long. Nonetheless, I upped the effort to make sure the next mile was safely in the 5-minute zone.

Miles 7 through 11 were run 100% solo. The long straight street that we were running on allowed me to keep track of Brian who was steadily building his gap on me. I gave thought to bridging to get on the 2:29 train but just wasn't feeling spry enough, so made the decision to keep the 5:50 pacing goal and see who came back to me. While my breathing was still super easy, my legs just weren’t feeling that peppy, a little crampy even. I popped a couple of E-caps somewhere in here to bump up the electrolytes and I also managed to get a gel down. Miles 7-11 went: 5:41, 5:50, 5:51, 5:48. Clearly, there would be no 2:30 on the day, but 2:33 was still very much alive.

Somewhere around mile 10 the marathon course rejoined the half (mile 5 in the half). I had been a bit worried about this section on the long haul up to City Park as I really didn’t want to be weaving around half marathoners for eight miles. Thankfully, we were on a divided two-lane thoroughfare for the full eight miles the two courses shared, so I got two lanes to myself (literally), while the half marathoners were bumper to bumper on their side of the road.

Mile 12 popped at 5:54 and mile 13 at 5:56. The 5:5x numbers back to back at equal effort output to previous 5:4x miles was a worrying sign to me that the slide was on, so going through the half in 1:16:48 (one second off a PR), I was beginning to feel like 2:33 would be a major result, with a 2:35 being a decent save. And then I split a 5:31 14th mile. I immediately wrote that one off as a short mile marker and got my nose back down to the grindstone.

Entering City Park

The miles up to the park, where I was expecting to see Justin and Nela and maybe run with Justin a bit, were unremarkable other than for the fact that I was desperately trying to hold on to my pace and failing: 6:08, 6:07, 5:58, 5:56. Shortly thereafter I was in the park and Justin jumped in to pace me for a stretch. He told me that he’d been double chicked, despite running an impressive 1:11:10. I was happy for him, but as I was beginning to feel increasingly sorry for myself, I was only able to mutter half-hearted words of congratulations on his PR. Justin pulled me through my last 5:xx mile, the 19th, which hit at 5:56. Soon thereafter he dropped off the pace (clearly it was too hot for him!) and left me to the misery of my own company.

Without my pacer I dropped straight back into the 6s, with a 6:04 20th mile on the way up to the shores of Lake Pontchartrain. Along the shore there was an annoying distance-adding out and back that involved two 180 degree cone turns, which at this stage of the game were about as welcome as Hosni Mubarak in Cairo. Mile 21, which included one of the U turns and a complete stop over confusion as to whether or not I was still on course (I was), popped at 6:08. Ughh. Mile 22 was no better (6:08), but at least I was headed back toward the finish.

I can’t remember exactly where I saw Brownie in here on this out and back section, but it was probably at about mile 22.5 (20 something for him). After some quick math based on where he was and time elapsed, he – quite unbelievably – appeared to be well on pace for his targeted 2:54. I think I grunted at him and then got my head back down for the dull, painful grind of the last few miles. Somehow I was maintaining my new low-6-minute pace. While it wasn’t my desired reality, at least there wasn’t a complete meltdown underway.

Token kick for the finish

Mile 23 was a 6:07 with 2:16:17 on the clock. I needed an act of god for 2:30, a miracle for 2:33 and some good old fashioned guts for 2:35. I apparently had none of the above, and capitulated over the last three miles with a 6:13, 6:10, 6:15 finish. I put in a token effort at running the last .2 in 63 seconds for the 2:35, but came up way short finishing in 2:36:11 and tenth overall.

Marathons hurt.

Brian fell off the pace a little through the closing miles, but still ran an impressive 2:31:13

Having set myself a 2:29-2:35 goal spread, I could say that I’m disappointed with the result, but as long as I’m setting PRs then I really shouldn’t be complaining. My marathon times are still moving at a large-chunk trajectory, so I am confident that next time out I’ll be able to put up a coveted 2:2x time and feel that I can give the event a satisfied turn of the back. As a point of reference, in my six stabs at the marathon my times have gone: 3:28, 3:16, 3:06, 2:54, 2:43, 2:36, so I have to believe that there is still room for improvement.

A huge congrats to Brownie for his impressive 2:53 run and PR, and of course to Justin for a really impressive collection of 1s (1:11:11) in the half. I ended up beating Brownie by 17 minutes and change, which means that I have to beat him by 38 minutes in Salida in order to win our bet. It’s a taller order than I would have liked, but still within the realms of possibility.

A word on the course. As Justin pointed out to me post-race, the marathon course for Competitor events tend to be an afterthought to the half marathons. The half course in New Orleans is lightning fast with very few turns and probably no more than 10 or 20 feet of elevation change. The marathon course is also very fast and very flat, but there are a lot of turns which slow things down a touch. I think this race will attract a stronger field in the coming years as it gains a reputation for being fast, but for guys in the 2:20 - 2:40 range the current lack of depth makes for more of a time trial than a race.

Thursday, February 10, 2011

I'm leaning toward the green for New Orleans, simply because the fit is a little better than the pink (women's 12), but all things being equal I think I'd rock the pink considering it's the Mardi Gras Marathon.

So anyway, this post is nothing more than a shameless plug for Pearl Izumi's new Streak II, which is either already available or will be within the next week or so. I've had the good fortune to run in these for a few months now, and can safely say they're the best road flats I've ever worn, which is not necessarily saying a great deal as I've only ever owned two different pairs (beyond the Streak), but still...

Anyway, they weigh in at about 7.7 oz in the 9.5, which while not in the uber-light category is still a distinctly light feeling shoe. Wear testing suggests they're good for at least 300 miles, which is a large number for a road flat. The extra ounce or two in the Streak II versus the hardly-there flats (4 to 6 ounces) comes in the form of a little extra cushioning in the midsole and a little added structure to the upper. For me, this makes the Streak an ideal shoe to race the marathon distance in. The legs are always the first thing to break down in a marathon, so hopefully the extra cushion will allow the legs to hold up a little better to the relentless pounding of 26.2 miles on asphalt.

With all that said, no shoe in the world is going to prevent a full-on bonk if I go out too hard, so I sure hope I've guessed my pacing right.

Sunday, February 6, 2011

---------------------------------------------------January: 440.5 miles (45,850') ---------------------------------------------------Tuesday - PM: 9 miles w/4 @ marathon effort. With the windchill temps in the negative double digits, I wasn't much looking forward to this run, but thanks to the positive effects of scheduling with friends, it got logged. A few miles at marathon pace was on the docket, and Tuesday was really the only available day to get it done, so after a couple of e-mail exchanges with Sarah to make sure we were both still up for it, we met after work for a 30-minute warm up before hitting the one-mile stretch of bike path on the Mason Trail between Harmony and Timberline for some pretty serious arctic action. The wind was blowing hard north to south, so heading north for the first and third miles the running was particularly painful, with the second and fourth miles heading south feeling almost tropical by comparison. Workout went: mile, 2 mile, mile @ marathon effort w/2-3 min jog between intervals. Splits were: 5:58, 11:50 (5:45, 6:05), 5:29 (gave Sarah 30 seconds on this one, so ran a little harder to chase her down). Clothing for my run on Sunday in 60 degree temps @ 7500': shorts & T-shirt; clothing Tuesday in -12 degree temps @5,000': two pair socks, four layers on top, three layers on bottom, two pair gloves, two pieces headgear. Brrrr. Don't think Ive ever experienced such a wild temperature swing in such a short period of time.

Weds - Noon: 4.5 miles (900') easy. Falls loop. Super cold again, but the sun was shining and there was no wind, so ended up enjoying a nice little jog. Crunched through untouched snow, which allowed me to enjoy the footprints of animals that had come before. Followed some pretty fresh cougar tracks coming down from Spring Creek to the three-way with Soderberg for a while, then a fox for almost the length of Soderberg down from Horsetooth trail intersection, and of course lots of deer and birds.

Thurs - AM: 10 miles (1,400') hills. Centennial to HTH 5 mile and back with Sarah, Slush and Celeste. Cold again, so dressed in many layers, perhaps one too many. Jogged out in 43, back in 33:30.

Brrr.

PM - 6.5 miles easy. FCTR social run.

Fri - Noon: 4.5 miles (900') easy. Falls loop. Super sluggish.

Checked in with Mike T at Pearl on Friday to talk shoes for 2013. Scott J is holding the new Fuel XC (blue/black, to be renamed Fuel Trail), while I've got my mitts on the Peak II (sweet ride). The new road flat (Streak II in green, white, black) is coming out in a couple of weeks and is a really impressive shoe. I'll be wearing those at NOLA. Exciting time at PI Run right now.

Sat - AM: 10 miles (1,400') easy. To 5 mile on HTH course and back with Fort Collins Running Club. Some good banter with Slush, Sarah, Alex and Pete. Ian Sharman runs 12:44 at Rocky! Wowzer. Chalk one up for the Brits.

Legs have been feeling sluggish all week, but that's typical for this stage of the taper. More rest next week in the form of a daily 4-mile jog and I should be raring to go come Sunday. I'm still kind of clueless as to a goal time, so the plan is to go by feel at no faster the 5:45 miling and hopefully slip into a pace that I can hold for 26 miles.

In other news, my number was pulled in the Hardrock lottery today which gives me a few things to think about for the summer. I guess I was hoping I would miss the draw this year and then get pulled in 2012, but things rarely go according to plan when lotteries are involved. I have until June 1 to make a final decision without actually having to commit funds. Obviously if I commit the funds then I'll be looking to run, but if recovery from Western States is slow, I can still give up my spot to someone on the waitlist and get 50% of my entry fee back. With that degree of flexibility, I'm pretty sure I'll be sending in a check this month to hold my place.

I am guessing that AJW's 46:58:20 (18:46:51 & 28:09:29) is a combined WS/HR record, so that would be a fun target to chase. Anyway, focus is still on New Orleans for the next week, then AR50, and then WS/HR. One step at a time.

Great to see fellow countryman Ian Sharman dominate in Texas yesterday. Let's hope this is just the beginning of the 2011 British invasion. Both Ian and I will be running AR50 and WS100 this spring/summer and then Canada-based Brit Ellie Greenwood has to be among the favorites at any race she lines up at this year, including Western States. Let the pillaging begin (continue).